INSANE IN THE MULSANNE
This year marks three decades since sales figures for the revitalised Bentley brand overtook Rolls-Royce for the first time since the 1930s and at a stroke ended an all too long era during which it had been very much the junior partner.
The renewed prominence of the Bentley marque was entirely due to the appeal of the turbocharged models which after a hesitant start in the guise of the Mulsanne Turbo had rapidly gained traction (quite literally) as they were gradually improved.
The very idea of turbocharging the stately L-Series V8 had begun originally as something of a side project, born of MD David Plastow’s desire to explore new and emerging automotive technologies and his exhortation to a wary development department “Come on, let’s have some fun.”
The original prototype was created by despatching a timeworn Silver Shadow development car to race team Broadspeed, from which it returned with 10 per cent more power but importantly 50 per cent more torque. All who drove the car were impressed with the transformation but even after it had been developed into a production-ready concept, Crewe management was wary of its conservative clientele’s
